Creative Feels

“It is usually the imagination that is wounded first, rather than the heart; it being much more sensitive.”

Henry David Thoreau

Sensitivity is something that all creatives must understand and face.

No matter the medium of art, to express who we are – our personality, our likes and dislikes, our pain, our circumstances and setbacks – we become hyper-aware of the world around us and the world with us.

This new heightened sense is a double edged sword. Opportunity and threat. Our ability to feel the world open us up to having higher highs and lower lows. On one side of the blade, it makes your work sharp. You become able to see the world in a unique and different way than everyone else.

But on the other side, we can easily cut ourselves . Too much input and we can quickly overwhelm or even sabotage our own work.

Or, in the most serious cases, we can even sabotage own lives. Amy Winehouse. Ernest Hemingway. Kurt Cobain. Prince. Robin Williams. The list goes on, celebrity or not. Depression. Anxiety. Burnout. Empathy. Negativity. Doubt. We absorb the world around us, possible more than your average muggle. And if we aren’t careful with what we allow into our lives, and how we nurture our inner dialogue, we can quickly absorb too much of the bad things that will ultimately weigh us down.

Creativity, and it’s potential rise to success and fame, can leave us vulnerable to negative and un-constructive criticism. But also makes us better at what we do.

Which is why it’s vital for us to attach meaning and purpose behind our actions, and intention behind our goals and direction.